Governor Youngkin signs legislation releasing a state-owned easement at Biscuit Run

The pace of the General Assembly is so quick that it’s hard for mostly anyone to know what’s happening. Everything is a whirlwind with such a condensed schedule. This week I’ve had time in my schedule to go through actions taken by Governor Glenn Youngkin on over a thousand pieces of legislation adopted by both the House of Delegates and the Senate this year.

This particular segment relates to 150 bills signed by Youngkin on Thursday, April 4, 2024.

HB778 is related to Biscuit Run Park. The Department of Conservation and Recreation owns the land which Albemarle County leases for a nominal annual fee. Under this bill, the DCR will relinquish some of its property rights for ingress and egress onto adjoining properties. 

“The county has no need to reestablish the crossing of Biscuit Run or utilize the easement for access to the future park,” reads the bill. 

Advocates of reducing the cost to build housing have argued that the building code needs to be amended to allow only one exit to be present in multifamily buildings. HB368 and SB195 direct the Board of Housing and Community Development to convene a stakeholder group to study the issue and recommend potential changes by the end of the year. I’ll have a story on this in C-Ville Weekly on this topic on Wednesday. 

HB233 lowers the eligibility threshold for property whose applicants seek funding from the Virginia Business Ready Sites Program from 100 acres to 50 acres under certain circumstances.  Albemarle County has sought this given the claims of a lack of available land with that much contiguous property. 

Here are some of the other bills that will become law after last Thursday’s signatures. 

• The Department of Education will be required to develop materials to educate students on the health risks of opioids. HB134 passed unanimously. 
• The sale or manufacture of xylazine for human consumption will be a Class 5 felony. The pharmaceutical is an opioid used in veterinary care. (HB1187)
• The Department of Education also is required to establish a Farm to School Program Task Force to recommend ways to get locally produced food into local schools. HB830 passed the House of Delegates on a 94 to 4 vote and the Senate on a 39 to 1 vote. The lone vote was Senator John McGuire who is challenging U.S. Representative Bob Good for the Republican nomination in Virginia’s Fifth District. 
• The Board of Social Services will no longer be allowed to require new applicants for Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program benefits to do so in person. HB150 passed the House of Delegates 89 to 9 and the Senate 22 to 18
• HB234 and SB516 will allow localities to adopt ordinances giving them the power to impound or seize all-terrain vehicles found to be operating on roads and sidewalks. 
• The State Health Commission is to create a statewide registry of patients who have sickle cell disease. (HB252)
• You can no longer finance the purchase of a dog or a cat now that HB330 will become law on July 1. 
• Emergency departments at hospitals will be required to have one licensed physician on hand at all times. This is due to the passage and adoption of HB353. 
• The Board of Medicine will be able to issue a two-year provisional license to a physician licensed to practice medicine in a foreign country if they’re going to be working in a medically underserved area. (HB995)
• Developing a historic property? If you’re using tax credits, the maximum amount that can be claimed in a year will increase from $5 million to $7.5 million. HB960 and SB556 take effect on July 1. 
• Tow truck drivers will be prohibited from driving past the scene for which a law-enforcement agency has requested assistance. That’s HB1073.
• The Department of Corrections will create an ombudsman position and a Corrections Oversight Committee now that HB555 has been signed into law
• HB801 would require the Department of Corrections to provide telephone systems and other communications systems that are to be available to inmates at “the lowest available rates.” 
• HB912 would require profits from such systems to be put toward programs “for educational, recreational, or medical purposes for the benefit of the inmates to include behavioral health, substance abuse, reentry, and rehabilitative services and may be expended to pay for the training, salaries, and benefits of employees or contractors whose primary job is to provide such programs and services to the inmates.”
• HB711 and SB599 authorizes bonds up to $124,285,000 for revenue-producing capital projects at  James Madison University, Virginia State University, and The College of William and Mary. 
• Do you want your wedding to be officiated by a member of Congress? HB1126 extends that privilege to U.S. Representatives and Senators. 
• The Department of Health will be required to approve alternative onsite sewage systems if they meet certain guidelines. (HB1431)

Before you go: The time to write and research of this article is covered by paid subscribers to Charlottesville Community Engagement. In fact, this particular installment is from the April 8, 2024 edition of the newsletter. To ensure this research can be sustained, please consider becoming a paid subscriber or contributing monthly through Patreon.